


Fireplace

by earlgreyteawrites



Series: Klancemas [3]
Category: Voltron - Fandom, klance - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, KEITH FIC, M/M, Vld keith - Freeform, keith kogane - Freeform, klance, klance christmas, klance fic, klance fluff, klancemas, klangst, lance fic, lance mcclain - Freeform, lance serrano - Freeform, vld keith fic, vld klance - Freeform, vld klance fic, vld lance - Freeform, vld lance fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 11:50:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16872408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlgreyteawrites/pseuds/earlgreyteawrites
Summary: Keith was never fond of Christmas. Every year it would roll around, the holiday season made Keith feel like he was walking around with a thunderstorm over his head. Christmas songs and little traditions were like lightning bolts hitting him and over again, making him even more depressed than he already was.





	Fireplace

    Keith was never fond of Christmas. Every year it would roll around, the holiday season made Keith feel like he was walking around with a thunderstorm over his head. Christmas songs and little traditions were like lightning bolts hitting him and over again, making him even more depressed than he already was.

    Unfortunately for him, Keith just so happened to get the most enthusiastic person to ever exist when it came to Christmas. Not even an hour after Thanksgiving passed, Lance was putting up their sad excuse of a Christmas tree, forcing Keith to decorate it with him, various assortments of ornaments and popcorn being fitted around its branches. Keith had been managing to keep it together rather well. He relaxed himself, pretended that everything would be fine and acted as cheery as he could. For the first time in his life, he went Christmas shopping and came back to wrap gifts. It wasn’t for himself of course, rather it was for Lance, but he could only keep himself together for so long.

    As the days passed, stockings were hung, cookies were baked, carols were sang and Keith, well, it was starting to get harder to fake it. Every little Christmas outing felt like it was weighing him down, even eating was hard despite everything that Lance made was good. But as the holiday slowly approached, even Lance began to realize what was going on.

    Keith didn’t bother to get coffee, hoping he could just sleep. It was two days before Christmas and Lance had gone out shopping for some last minute gifts. He stared at the tiny fake fireplace in their apartment and then the tree. His heart felt like it had been stabbed as he looked at it, his insides churning with agony. He’d been doing so well, he didn’t want to lose it now, so Keith quickly walked back to his room. He stuck his hand under his bed, managing to find the box. There were about a million flash drives in a box, all of them crowded together. Keith almost stopped himself, but he remembered Lance wasn’t due to be home for hours considering the traffic, lines and just the fact that he was slow in general.

    Keith took the box into the living room along with his laptop, plugging the first stick inside. It glowed faintly to signal it was on, files popping up on the computer. For a while Keith was hesitant, his hand pausing above the keyboard. He reminded himself over and over again of what had happened the last time he’d done this, this wasn’t going to help him keep it together. But…to be fair, he’d been doing so well, he needed something; a cheat day if you will.

    He managed to gather the courage, opening the files. It must’ve been a photo and video stash he’d never seen before, seeing as Keith was met with his own face, twenty two years younger than himself. It was baby Keith, not even a year old yet.

    He clicked on the video, watching as it blew up to fit the full screen. And, in all his glory, was dad.

    Immediately the emotions began flowing. Keith felt his face crumpling and the tears building as a man stared at the camera, adjusting it with his tongue sticking out. He had yet to get that scar on his eyebrow and his scruff was nonexistent. In fact, he looked incredibly young, his smiling face lacking the dents and wrinkles Keith had seen when he was a little older.

 _“Okay Keith, say, ‘Hi older Keith!’”_ he suggested. Baby Keith looked at the camera for a moment, his eyes big and curious. His little hand reached out, _“Are you waving instead? Are you- AHH! NO KEITH!”_ the camera tumbled to the ground, all sorts of horrible sounds emitting from it. Keith couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh at his younger self, watching from the fallen camera. It wasn’t the perfect angle, but it captured the moment as his dad sighed deeply, scooping the baby off of the couch. _“What am I going to do with you?”_ he asked, chuckling softly before pressing a kiss on Keith’s face, sighing softly.

    The video faded to black, the play button going back up as if to ask Keith to play it again, but he moved onto the next.

    Keith watched several videos. His first birthday, his first Halloween, first playdate, first favorite toy, but Keith wasn’t really watching himself, he wasn’t listening to himself. Dad was truly the one who had captured his attention. His laughs, his smiles, his face in general. Sometimes Keith would pause the screen, just so he could look at dad just a little longer. He would run his hand across the computer and look into his soft brown eyes. It didn’t matter the quality of the video, he still felt like dad was there, just for a couple moments.

    Needless to say, flash drive after flash drive went into his computer. He watched every video his eyes could take in, feeling his eyes build more tears as the years passed by through millions of videos. He watched as dad grew older, his scar appearing and his scruff beginning to gather over his chin. He watched himself as his tiny body changed, getting larger and skinnier as video after video passed.

    But as he slowly went through it all, he finally reached for the last USB. Marked on its little stick was the words, Keith’s 13th Christmas Eve.

    Keith’s throat tightened and he felt so hollow it was almost like he was nothing at all. He placed the flash drive into his computer, his hands shaking as he pulled up the file. Two videos. For the other Christmas’s there were at least twenty, but he knew why this one was so short.

   _“You don’t know it yet Keith, but these are going to be your Christmas present when you turn eighteen.”_ dad said, holding up a box. There were already thousands of flash drives in the box, filling it to the brim, the one Keith had besides him at this very moment, _“I know you don’t have yourself in this video, but, I wanted some dad time, y’know?”_ he smiled brightly at the camera, his cheeks flushing pink. It was a better video than the last, enough that Keith truly felt like he was sitting in his old house, his dad right in front of him.

  _“I know I say it a lot, but I love you Keith. I don’t know where I would ever be without you. You’re my baby, you’re my everything, that’s why I made these for so long. I want you to see how you’ve grown and what an amazing young man you’re going to become. And when I’m old and possibly when I’m gone, I want you to watch these and remember that I will always be with you no matter how far away I might seem.”_

    Keith felt tears beginning to stream down his cheeks. After nearly a month of suffering, it all began to come out.

  _“I couldn’t be prouder of you Keith. I love every piece of you, even the parts that get on my nerves sometimes, but there truly isn’t anyone more perfect than you. I’ll never stop loving you and loving being your father, not even when I’m gone. I just know that someday you’re going to be watching these and thinking about how cheesy I am, but that’s what dads are supposed to be, cheesy.”_ a faint voice came from the hallway in the background of the video, dad turning his head, _“I’m sure there will be time for a monologue later, I love you Keith. Now it’s time for your thirteenth Christmas.”_

    Keith broke down into sobs, pausing the video where dad was turned to the camera. And just as what had happened in the video, there was noises from the hallway. Lance was home, and Keith was sobbing his eyes out in the living room, unable to stop.

    “Keith?” Keith barely heard from the hallway. “Keith, is everything okay? Are you hurt?” a loud ‘THUMP’ came from the kitchen, followed by loud footsteps. Lance rushed into the living room. He looked tired out of his mind and a little bit rough, his hair all over the place and his clothes crinkled.

    Lance went straight to Keith’s side, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and shut his laptop, placing it to the side.

    “Wh-what’s going on? Is everything okay?” Keith couldn’t respond, barely even able to breath as he sobbed into Lance’s shoulder. He sounded desperate and ugly, his whole body shivering and shaking, fat alligator tears streamed down his cheeks and snot followed, smearing all over Lance’s clothes.

    Lance slowly seemed to realize that this was a problem he couldn’t fix, though he probably had no clue as to what the problem might be in the first place. But despite it all he squeezed Keith tightly against his chest, bringing his roommate’s face close to he could wipe away tears and kiss his cheeks tenderly.

    “It’s okay, you’re not alone anymore, I’m here, I’m here for you.” he whispered, running his hands gently across Keith’s face to brush aside the tears. “Come here, let me get a blanket around you, you’re freezing.” Keith hadn’t even noticed how cold he was, but when Lance pointed it out he also began to realize other things, like he hadn’t eaten all day, and that he seriously needed to use the bathroom. But…dad…dad had been top priority. For once Keith realized he had to think about himself, and if he didn’t, he was going to get hurt.

    Keith gasped for air, managing to beg Lance to take him to the bathroom. Lance did as Keith asked, shutting the door and allowing Keith to do his business, but that was the furthest away he dared to go, scooping Keith back in his arms the moment he left the bathroom.

    Keith cried for so long that he didn’t know when Lance had come home, but by now it was dark and Lance was holding him carefully on the couch, feeding him saltine crackers and singing softly in his ear. It was only then that he truly began to calm down, his sobs fading out, leaving only tears.

    “…Feel any better?” Lance asked, to which Keith shook his head, leaning against Lance’s chest and breathing out of his mouth, seeing as his nose was too stuffy to do so. “Okay…” Lance muttered, “Come here, come closer.” Lance said softly, drawing Keith into his lap and slowly lying down across their couch. Keith managed to swallow the last of his saltine cracker, holding Lance tightly.

    “I’m sorry.” Keith sobbed softly.

    “What are you sorry for?” Lance asked, keeping his tone calm and concerned.

    “I’m ruining everything.” for a moment Lance paused, seeming confused as he continued to brush the tears from Keith’s cheeks.

    “Buddy, what are you talking about?” Lance asked quietly. Keith breathed in and out shakily for a moment, tears streaming down his face madly.

    “Look…I-I can’t handle Christmas. I tried so hard to make you happy, but I’m just a big mess my life is a mess.” he sobbed weakly. “I want to have fun with you, I want to decorate the Christmas tree and open presents, but I can’t. I can’t be happy Lance.”

    Lance’s features fell, he looked absolutely crestfallen. He wiped away the tears and snot with some tissues, trying to calm Keith down enough to listen.

    “I just want my dad.” Keith sobbed, “I want my dad.”

    “We can call him Keith-”

    “He’s dead Lance!”

    A heavy silence fell over the two of them. Lance’s grip tightened on Keith and his face sunk into Keith’s shoulder.

    “…He’s dead.” Keith sobbed softly, “He’s-”

    “Shh.” Lance whispered. Keith blubbered for a moment, but Lance eventually managed to calm him, his fingers burying comfortably into his locks. “Shh.”

    Keith breathed for a moment, every rise and fall of his chest feeling like his last. Everything ached with grief and longing that he’d been trying to hide had finally reached the end of its line. He’d gotten it all out, leaving him feeling hollow and helpless as he practically laid across Lance on the couch. He could hear the fake fire crackling softly over his own sniffles and soft sobs as he let himself finally relax.

    Lance did everything he could from massaging Keith’s back to kissing his face softly. Though it was a more intimate gesture, Keith accepted it in the hopes of comfort. Everything Lance did helped, making Keith feel a little bit better as the minutes passed by. And eventually, he calmed enough that his eyelids became heavier, the touch of Lance’s fingers still going up and down his back.

    “Hey.” Lance whispered, “It’s going to be okay.  You don’t have to be happy for me, you don’t have to do anything you don’t feel like doing. I just want you to be happy, for real, and you can’t do that by faking it.” Keith managed to look at Lance for a moment, feeling comfort in the soft gaze he was being given, “…You have to be honest about how bad it feels so you can move on, but you don’t have to be alone. I’ll be here with you every step of the way, I’ll be here.”

    Keith locked his eyes with Lance for another moment, suddenly feeling at peace. He managed to lean over, pecking him on the cheek. He was still shaking madly and crying, but at least he wasn’t hysterical anymore.

    “Thank you Lance.” he blubbered, “I love you.”

    “Love you too samurai.” Lance said, kissing Keith’s forehead tenderly. “You’re not alone.”

    And with that last comment, Keith finally truly felt at ease, closing his eyes for real this time. The fire crackled and memories coursed through his head. He missed dad, but he didn’t have to be alone anymore like he had been before. He was safe here in his living room apartment, Lance holding him tenderly. Dad might not be here, dad might not be singing and handing out presents, he might not be in Keith’s life anymore, but at the same time he was. He still had his videos, he still had dad…and now he had Lance. And it would be okay.

    It would all be okay.


End file.
